The Twins Finally Picked a Lane

[stringer bell]

1 hour ago, Larry Janisewski said:

The bullpen "was" a strength. the Twins problem was not being able to hit, especially with runners in scoring position and the position player movement was minimal.

Four position players moved, that’s almost half of the regulars.

As much as exploiting market inefficiencies is part of their means of operation, so is the firm belief they can build a good bullpen at minimal expense. 

[Mike Sixel]

Given what Falvey said in his letter, and that they called up a bunch of guys in their mid 20s and 30s, I don't think they picked a lane.....

[TheLeviathan]

2 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

All that but Outman seem like ideas. 

I understand the pessimism on Outman....but like @Riverbrian I think I like him.  I want multi-dimensional dudes and I like taking shots and rebound careers.  He might be a Willie Castro type reclamation.

I also admit....some of that is just personal bias and I'm overlooking age and recent stats.  But I'm planting my flag on thinking he's worth a shot, however low those odds are.

[TheLeviathan]

4 minutes ago, TheLeviathan said:

I understand the pessimism on Outman....but like @Riverbrian I think I like him.  I want multi-dimensional dudes and I like taking shots and rebound careers.  He might be a Willie Castro type reclamation.

I also admit....some of that is just personal bias and I'm overlooking age and recent stats.  But I'm planting my flag on thinking he's worth a shot, however low those odds are.

To add to this now.....the hell is he doing in AAA?  

[Buschleaguer22]

Why would I pay $100 for a ticket to a game at Target Field and watch the exact same team that played in St. Paul last week for $15 a ticket? Canceled my season ticket renewal for 2026 today. 

[HarmonK03]

I guess they didn't pick a lane after all.  Scrap heaps for the bullpen means more games with openers.  Tell me again why they traded for any starters.

And batting Clemens fourth, yep this a youth movement.

[HarmonK03]

This is a comment directly from Falvey's letter

"We’ve bolstered our pitching. We added arms ready to contribute now"

Which of those arms are currently on the active roster, none.  This guy has no credibility and really needs to go today.  Find someone interim to guide the organization until the sale.  I have never been so disappointed with this team.

[Major League Ready]

2 hours ago, old nurse said:

Mathew’s and Festa have had 18-25 starts at the MLB level. Bradley and Abel probably jump ahead of them and they go to the bullpen. They could be used as paired with SWR, Bradley and Abel. Part of the bullpen would have to be on the AAA/MLB merry go round. Any of them would get to go out and throw their 80 pitches and sit   Clems and Wallner become the mop up crew 

It's going to be interesting to see this play out.  Abel is listed on the 40 man as "minors".  He has only had 6 major league starts.  Bradley is established so he goes to the rotation but what do they do when Pablo comes back.  Who gets the 5th spot between SWR / Festa and Abel?  Maybe they go to a 6-man rotation or they drag out Pablo's return as long as they can.

[TwinsDr2021]

The Twins have two guys hitting above .243 (Jeffers, Lee) , Lewis hitting .243, 5 guys hitting below .219 (Wallner, Vazquez, Julien, Clemens) and one with zero at bats. Is this what Falvey meant in his letter when he said 

""On the position player side, we brought in impact potential. Players with the tool to grow into everyday contributors and raise the overall ceiling of the roster. The foundation is getting stronger, and we believe the next wave is starting to take shape. "

I feel bad for the starting pitchers!

[TwinsDr2021]

11 minutes ago, karcherd said:

This is a comment directly from Falvey's letter

"We’ve bolstered our pitching. We added arms ready to contribute now"

Which of those arms are currently on the active roster, none.  This guy has no credibility and really needs to go today.  Find someone interim to guide the organization until the sale.  I have never been so disappointed with this team.

 Bradley (pitching), Roden (LF)

Just realized Bradley is in the minors (WTF)

[HarmonK03]

1 minute ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

Abel and Bradley. 

Are they on the Major League roster, no they are not.  And yet he said they received pitching to contribute right away.  To me that means they will contribute for the Twins not any of the minor league teams.

[Major League Ready]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

So. the 28 yo they traded for is going to AAA, not the majors? Is that right?

The Dodgers only gave him 17 PAs in this month.  They probably would like him to get his timing back and perhaps gain some confidence.  

[sweetmusicviola16]

I guess I don't get Julien? He's had his chances. He gives us nothing. Why not Eeles? 

[NYCTK]

1 hour ago, Riverbrian said:

Do I think we will have a bullpen as good as the one we just blew up. Nope...no way...  but that doesn't mean we can't cobble something together that ends up mid-pack in comparison with the other 29 teams.  

This is the big thing people are ignoring though. The vaunted "best bullpen in baseball" '24-'25 Twins WERE middle of the pack, and arguably bottom half of the league. 

FIP/WAR is nice to look at but you have to also look at the results eventually. And a season and a half of results said the Twins were a pretty mediocre to poor bullpen despite how shiny some of those arms looked. 

[TwinsDr2021]

7 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

The Dodgers only gave him 17 PAs in this month.  They probably would like him to get his timing back and perhaps gain some confidence.  

and/or they already have 4 active outfielders and they all bat left handed, so that left Martin or McCusker. 

[NYCTK]

24 minutes ago, karcherd said:

Are they on the Major League roster, no they are not.  And yet he said they received pitching to contribute right away.  To me that means they will contribute for the Twins not any of the minor league teams.

They're both in the running for 2026 rotation spots. That's immediate impact considering the Twins 2025 season is done. 

[HarmonK03]

1 minute ago, NYCTK said:

They're both in the running for 2026 rotation spots. That's immediate impact considering the Twins 2025 season is done. 

Okay, Mr. Falvey.

[Woof Bronzer]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

Given what Falvey said in his letter, and that they called up a bunch of guys in their mid 20s and 30s, I don't think they picked a lane.....

Yeah there's obviously no plan here.  

I hope the Pohlads are paying Falvey handsomely to debase himself like this.  A GM with a shred of self respect and professional pride would have quit yesterday, a la Terry Ryan when he was given an absurd cost cutting target.  Falvey doubled down, and now seems to embrace the Dave St Peter role of lickin' boots and alienatin' fans.  

[Jeff K]

2 hours ago, Fred said:

Take another look at Sabato. He languished at Wichita until this year, flipped a switch, and is doing well enough at St Paul this year that I expected that he would replace France next year for the Twins. 

did not get called up today which is disappointing.

[BillyBallLives]

It's going to be interesting to watch the fan base reaction....we thought the cost cutting year of 2023 alienated fans, this is adding fuel to the fire. The soul of the fan base is going to be severely tested.

Twins fan waited 20 blasted years too see a post season victory, then they pulled the carpet out of any momentum. Now a massive sell off?

[ziggy]

I think we all know that when Falvey is no longer the Twins GM he is going to be a sucessful politician.

[NYCTK]

23 minutes ago, karcherd said:

Okay, Mr. Falvey.

Am I wrong? Or do you just wish to be snarky. Yesterday was a big shock to many so I don't take it personally. 

[HarmonK03]

3 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

Am I wrong? Or do you just wish to be snarky. Yesterday was a big shock to many so I don't take it personally. 

Why are 30 somethings dfa candidates up here before the acquired pitching.  Especially Bradley, we need one more starter so Falvey's words ring pretty hollow.  And yes I did receive the email and it doesn't sit well with me at all to have this word salad thrown at me. Actions speak louder than words.

[BillyBallLives]

Not to beat a dead horse, but to give it one more whack.

Since dumping Alcala....here's the list of relievers that have come thru the door. 

• Joey Wentz
• Noah Davis
• Pierson Ohl
• Anthony Misiewicz
• José Ureña
• Kody Funderburk
• Michael Tonkin
• Erasmo Ramírez
  
  

  It’s practically a sitcom at this point, but not body stays long enough for the closing credits. 
   

[NYCTK]

7 minutes ago, karcherd said:

Why are 30 somethings dfa candidates up here before the acquired pitching. 

It's sort of irrelevant at this point, no? 

I can assure you that Taj Bradley will be competing for a rotation spot in '25 Spring Training, as will Abel. And both have a good chance of winning it, depending on the health of the others, and depending on if the Twins Front Office sells one of their more premium starters. 

[twinstalker]

8 hours ago, ashbury said:

If there's a plan, you should be able to state it.  They should be able to state it.  The trade of Varland, under control through 2030 I believe, is out of keeping with simply "sellers at the deadline."  The trades of Duran, Jax, and Stewart are collectively out of keeping with retooling for the coming two years.  I don't know when the next window of contention is targeted.  2031?  Do we just keep developing and trading away?

They traded Varland for value, it wasn't the same sort of trade as the rest.  You can disagree with the value, but they didn't need to trade him, obv.  Rojas and Roden have value, and they probably are trading Varland at his peak value.  With France they save only $100k (1/3 of the difference between him and a min salary), so unless the Jays dumped him already, they probably wanted to see if he could hit lhp.

Here's the scout:

Rojas must have been hurt earlier this season, so I'll go with his last chunk of innings:  56 ip, 50 h, 12 bb, 61 k at age 21 last year at A+.  His K/9 has increased significantly in 23.2 ip at AA/AAA this year to 13.5.  He doesn't really walk guys.  Projections for pitchers are difficult, but he does seem to have a chance.

Roden was an old draftee (22 in 2022) whose first full season in 2023 was split between A+ and AA, where he hit and got on base with modest power.  His outstanding trait was a 10% K rate at A+, 15% at AA first trip, 14% AA second trip, 14% AAA first time, 9% second time this year, and 21% in MLB in his first 113 PAs.  He's adjusting and should be a fine hitter, better than Larnach probably.

Between the two acquired, it's probably a good trade.  Varland is likely to have a short time as a dominant reliever, and that time would be while the Twins stink,  Still, we all love Louie, so it doesn't feel great.

[NYCTK]

2 minutes ago, BillyBallLives said:

Not to beat a dead horse, but to give it one more whack.

Since dumping Alcala....here's the list of relievers that have come thru the door. 

• Joey Wentz
• Noah Davis
• Pierson Ohl
• Anthony Misiewicz
• José Ureña
• Kody Funderburk
• Michael Tonkin
• Erasmo Ramírez
   

  It’s practically a sitcom at this point, but not body stays long enough for the closing credits. 
   

 

That's not really unexpected or unique to the Twins. A lot of teams use the last spot in their bullpen to burn through waiver pick ups and AAAA pitchers with remaining options. 

[HarmonK03]

2 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

It's sort of irrelevant at this point, no? 

I can assure you that Taj Bradley will be competing for a rotation spot in '25 Spring Training, as will Abel. And both have a good chance of winning it, depending on the health of the others, and depending on if the Twins Front Office sells one of their more premium starters. 

Now is the time to start working with them and get them exposure or do you not have faith in our staff at the major league level.  You are not competing with the 30 somethings so no it is not irrevelvant which is the opposite of what Falvey said.  So keep defending him if you want but he needs to go, he has no plan or vision for this club.

[IndianaTwin]

If you subscribe to The Athletic, here's an excellent article walking through the past several days, including the dynamics around the Correa trade and the Jax/Baldelli relationship and particularly focusing on the relationship and communication side of things. 

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6529725/2025/08/01/minnesota-twins-trade-carlos-correa-astros/?campaign=14439855&source=athletic_breaking_targeted_email&userId=13286817

 

 

[NYCTK]

2 minutes ago, twinstalker said:

They traded Varland for value, it wasn't the same sort of trade as the rest.  You can disagree with the value, but they didn't need to trade him, obv.  Rojas and Roden have value, and they probably are trading Varland at his peak value.  With France they save only $100k (1/3 of the difference between him and a min salary), so unless the Jays dumped him already, they probably wanted to see if he could hit lhp.

Here's the scout:

Rojas must have been hurt earlier this season, so I'll go with his last chunk of innings:  56 ip, 50 h, 12 bb, 61 k at age 21 last year at A+.  His K/9 has increased significantly in 23.2 ip at AA/AAA this year to 13.5.  He doesn't really walk guys.  Projections for pitchers are difficult, but he does seem to have a chance.

Roden was an old draftee (22 in 2022) whose first full season in 2023 was split between A+ and AA, where he hit and got on base with modest power.  His outstanding trait was a 10% K rate at A+, 15% at AA first trip, 14% AA second trip, 14% AAA first time, 9% second time this year, and 21% in MLB in his first 113 PAs.  He's adjusting and should be a fine hitter, better than Larnach probably.

Between the two acquired, it's probably a good trade.  Varland is likely to have a short time as a dominant reliever, and that time would be while the Twins stink,  Still, we all love Louie, so it doesn't feel great.

I don't LOVE Roden, but he already looks like a better bet for 2026 than Larnach and is 3 years his junior. 

He looks like he maxes out as 2-2.5 WAR player whereas Larnach can't play defense and therefore maxes out as a 1-1.5 WAR player. There's a really good chance Larnach gets non tendered now, though the roster is so light it's probably worth paying the 3.5 or whatever he's going to get in order to fill the roster and you can always try to trade him at the deadline.